La Vie Boheme
by Truly Christine
Summary: Deidara's life, from the time he was a young child, to the time of his death, told through the eyes of him and his family.
1. Apples

Laughter rang through the rock formations on a bright June morning. A blond child of no more than four years was playing in one of the rock outcrops that made up his home.

"Grampa! Come see what I made!" An older man of about sixty emerged from a nearby house, eager to see the latest work of his grandson. When he arrived at the boy's side, the child pointed at two birds flying around the rocks. He puffed out his chest in pride and raced through

" Grampa see look, I made them all by myself they can fly now and they couldn't fly before I just did what daddy said and they, they didn't work the first twenty times but I worked really hard and I got really angry that they weren't working and I almost gave up but I didn't give up and do you like them Grampa?"

"Wait up, Deidara, I barely heard a single word! Maybe they should call _you _the Yellow Flash. What did you say?" Still too fast, he tried explaining again

"I made the birds fly I did it and. . ." realizing his speed by the confused look on his grandfather's face, he tried to slow up his speech. Unfortunately he tried too hard. " aaaannnnddd. . . IIIIIII. . . cccooouuullldddnnn'ttt. . . fffooorrr. . . aaa. . . lllooonnnggg. . . tttiiimmmeee." He hoped he had reached the correct speed. Again the countenance of his grandfather told him he had overdone it. "That was too slow, and before it was too fast, if I find the middle maybe, hmmm. The first speed was something like 'blablablablablablablablablablablabla' and if I slow that 'blablablablablabla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bbblllaaa. . . bbblllaaa. . . bbblllaaa. . . bb' no that's the second one, so maybe 'bla, bla, bla, bla, bla.'. We'll see what Grampa says." During this soliloquy, one of Deidara's birds landed on "Grampa"'s shoulder and in looking at it, he began to marvel at the realisticness of it, especially coming from a toddler. It rivaled that of Deidara's father at four years old!

"Wow Deidara, this is really good! Did you make this by yourself?"

"Uh-huh!"

"You deserve a special treat for this."

"Oooo I hope it's an apple!" thought Deidara. He absolutely adored the fruit, but for some reason, nobody seemed to ever have any. As he walked inside with "Grampa" and his birds, he thought about the recurring dream that he'd been having.

He was in a big grassy field standing before an apple tree. He would stare longingly at the multitude of apples on the tree, his mouth would water, and his stomach would grumble, but alas, no apple could be reached. Defeated, he would collapse on to the ground, sobbing, and wailing "APPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!" . Suddenly he would feel a tap on his shoulder. Turning he would see something that would make him beam, quite literally, he would perk up and glow. He would see a winged apple that would whisper "Deidara-sama, enjoy my juicy goodness." and it would fly to his mouth and feed itself to him. As he would eat this apple, he heard little whispers coming from everywhere. He looked around and saw that every apple was doing the same thing, even fighting over who would be eaten first! "Deidara-sama. . . Deidara-sama. . . Deidara-sama. . ." "Deidara, Deidara, DEIDARA!!" "Grampa" brought Deidara out of his reverie.

"Deidara, which color apple do you want, red and green or yellow?"

"Red and green, Grampa." Grampa sat down at the table, and handed Deidara his apple. Just about to take a bite from his own apple, he turned, surprised to see Deidara looking _inquisitively_ at his apple.

"Deidara, it looks like you have a question."

"Grampa, why are there so few apples around here?" Grampa's face turned from bright to troubled. He'd known that sooner or later he'd have to explain their situation to his grandson, but he just wasn't sure how to do so.

"Grampa? Grampa? Grampa? Tell me!" asked Deidara with all the impatience of a toddler. At last Grampa came up with a way.

"You see. . ."

"What took you so long!?"

"It's very impolite to interrupt, Deidara."

"Sorry"

"Well, the apples that we don't come from here. They come from the Fire country."

"What's that?"

"Our world is made up of many pieces, countries. There are five big countries; Earth, where we live, Fire, were these apples are from, Lightning, Water, and Wind, and many smaller ones. You see, the Earth and Fire are fighting right now. If we got apples from them, we would be helping the bad guys. You wouldn't want to do that now would you?"

"(Gasp) No! Never! But Grampa, how did we get these?" putting his apple on the table, next to Grampa's which Grampa didn't even realize that he put down.

"It only helps them if you pick them after asking. We didn't help them, because these were picked without asking." Deidara picked up his apple.

"That's good." and he took a huge bite. Amidst the crunching noises of Deidara chewing, he barely heard

". . . you should thank Ichigo-san next door, she just returned with these apples." He swallowed, and heard the rest of Grampa's sentence ". . . and gave some to me, knowing that you love them." In a sudden realization, Deidara said

"If we are fighting the Fire country, is that where Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Jin are now?"

"Yes." Deidara's parents, Kaoru and Ryu, had left about two weeks prior and had left him with her father, Aki. Deidara was very upset, and had thought up all the worst-case scenarios possible for a four year old as to why his parents left, since up until now, nobody would tell him where they went.

"Yay! Now I know they didn't leave me forever!" he thought excitedly. "But wait. . ." "Grampa, will Mommy, Daddy and Jin be ok?" "I hope so, Deidara, I hope so.


	2. A Life For A Life

A crow stirred in her nest. The sun was rising to a very misty morning. The crow ruffled her feathers, preparing for the long day ahead of her, and to wake her chicks. Today they were going to learn how to fly. One chick made it's way to the edge of the nest, trying to avoid the congestion of the nest as of late. Seeing this as an opportunity, she nudged her chick over the edge of the nest, and turned, preparing the next one. As this chick fell, he became slightly nervous. He spread his wings and flapped, but he was not flying. He kept trying to flap, as instinct was , but he only picked up speed as he dropped to the cliffs below. He plummeted, a black blur against the canvas of kaolinite. He was near ready to stop flapping and accept his fate when something hit him. It was not a smash, as if he had at last reached the bottom of this lethal descent, but rather a soft bump. The crow was surprised by the curious sensation he now felt. He was no longer falling, but flying, but he was not moving his limbs at all. He was sure that he should be flapping his wings, but he was also sure that he was flying. He looked down to see if anything visible was aiding him, and for sure, something was. He was surprised to find this unusual white bird carrying him, as opposed to a sibling, or his mother. This kind of bird, the chick had never seen before. He'd never seen a bird this white, and he began to fear for his life again, not knowing whether this bird was going to save him, or eat him. He flapped for his life, hoping this time, he would ascend. His renewed attempt lasted for a minute or so, but alas, even with this frantic urgency, it was futile. He was trapped atop this potential predator. Resigned to this fate, he attempted to rest, as his attempts at saving himself had worn him out completely. The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was himself getting dumped into the now empty nest.

The white bird returned to its perch, which happened to be Deidara's arm.

"You're definitely the last one, I'm really tired!" Deidara sluffed into the house. With blinking eyes desperately trying to remain open, he bumped into, then opened, his bedroom door. He ran across the room eagerly awaiting the warmth and softness of his bed. When he reached his bed, he crumpled onto it. However, he felt something other than his sheets and blankets, something warm and squishy. He jumped up in surprise.

"Deidara! Where were you? I woke up at four in the morning and I went to check on you and you weren't there! I was so worried! Where were you!?"

"(yawn) I was training. My birds were really good to(yawn)day! I saved a real bird from being crushed! (yawn)"

"OK, but next time, tell me. Or better yet, take somebody with you. I wouldn't want anything happening to you, Dei-chan." Slurred and tiredly he responded

"Grampa, I wanna show (yawn) mommy and daddy my birds." He rubbed his eyes, in an attempt to remain awake long enough to finish his thought. "When will they be back from fighting? (yawn)"

"I don't know Deidara. You must be really tired, I'll let you sleep now." He rose from Deidara's bed, and walked towards the door.

"Night-night Grampa."

"Goodnight Deidara." and he closed the door behind him. Deidara flopped onto the now unoccupied bed, and was out immediately. As he slept, the mother crow flew by his window.

Kaoru jumped from a boulder and continued on her path, panting as she went. Her blon hair was disheveled and her body covered in blood, and bruises from the many times she had missed a boulder in her way, or had failed to notice a rock on the ground and tripped.

"Sis, you're so absent-minded today!" The man caught up with his sister. "How can you have forgotten the layout of these rocks? You used to go blindfolded!" Growling, she whipped around and snapped

"SHUT UP JIN!! To be honest, I don't know how you could have forgotten from a _week_ ago!"

" God, you don't have to be so harsh, I was just joking. I know it's hard. especially since you have Deidara now, but try to cheer up a bit. It will help."

"I know, I'm just a little sensitive now. I'm sorry I snapped at you. C'mon, we're almost home. I've gotta talk to dad." They continued walking home.

"So how are you gonna tell Deidara?"

"I don't know. I was thinking not to tell him for a while, at least until I compose myself." The two siblings climbed up the cliff on top of which their father's house stood, as Kaoru had deemed it necessary to go there before stopping at her home to rest.

Aki was just returning from waking up Deidara, who was tailing him, when he heard a knock at his door. He ran to the door, followed by Deidara. The door was open for no longer than a second when a loud shout was heard.

"MOMMY!!" Deidara ran up to his mom's legs and raised his arms in anticipation of being picked up. Kaoru started to push him away and make for her father, before a prodding from Jin clued her in to her confused son's waiting arms. "Mommy?" said Deidara, wondering why his mother had ignored him, as she turned and lifted him into her arms.

"Of course! My little Dei-chan!" Deidara was burying his face into his mom's neck, when she started to put him down.

"Mommy, where's my kiss?"

"Oh yes!" and she kissed him on the cheek. She lowered him to the ground, and she and Jin fully entered the house. Aki closed the door and began to question his daughter.

"Why did you come. . ."

"Mommy! I made birds. . ."

"Not now Deidara!"

"But mommy. . ." Jin approached his nephew.

"Deidara, lets go outside and you can tell me how your time with Grampa was."

"OK."

As they shut the door to the kitchen behind them, Deidara asked

"Uncle Jin, what's wrong with mommy?"

"She's tired."

"O.K. . . So I made birds that fly! They _fly_! Just like Daddy's! Do you want to see, I saved a bird this morning!" Chuckling, Jin answered Deidara

"O.K. Deidara, lets go see. I see that you still haven't learned to talk any slower!"

"Oh I did!" guiltily, he shifted to "But I guess I forgot." He took Jin's hand and as they went around to the back exit of the house in Aki's room, Deidara mentioned "Uncle Jin, I ate an apple! Grampa got me an _apple_!"

"Those must have been some birds to call for that special an occasion! Okay Deidara, let's see what you got there." Deidara took his free hand and bit off some of the soft, white rock that comprised the surrounding cliff-side.

"Chewy - chewy, gonna make a birdie!" sang Deidara as the mouth ground up the clay and molded it. After about ten seconds of chewing and chanting, He opened his handmouth and a small white bird appeared and took off. Jin watched as the bird circled Deidara's head and then his own. He was amazed at the quality from a toddler, of which he himself could never achieve. He began to flash back to another time when he stood before a flying white bird. He remembered it as if it were yesterday.

"Kaoru, look at. . ." Jin suddenly heard Deidara pleading, and his flashback was gone. "Uncle Jin! Uncle Jin! Do you like them? Aren't they amazing!? Do you like them? Do you? Do you?"

"Yes, they look just like the real ones."

"Do you think that Daddy will be proud of me?" Jin felt a sharp pain the heart at the sudden mention of his brother-in-law. Looking at his nephew's bright face and joyful eyes, he did not envy his sister's task of breaking the news. He took a deep breath, put on the largest smile that he could, and said

"Yes, Deidara. Very, very proud of you."

Meanwhile, inside Kaoru was talking with her father. After Jin and Deidara had left the room, Aki spoke up.

"Kaoru, what's wrong, you look worn. You should be home resting. I'll watch Deidara for anoth. . ."

"Dad, something terrible happened." The solemn wave struck Aki and he offered his daughter a seat at the table.

"What happened to him?", now realizing the significance of his daughter returning without her husband.

"Konohas Yellow Flash. We surrounded a boy from Konoha, and he passed out. The next thing we knew, the Flash was there to protect him. He was killing us off like flies! Everybody down, bloody. It was a massacre. He came up behind Ryu and killed him before either of us could do anything about it. Oh dad! When he fell, it was as if the world moved in slow motion. My heart just burst when his blood splattered across my face! I was able to keep the Flash away from me by using a clone, but I could hardly think after that. I think I tried to use my petrification technique, but it was all seems like such a blur. I know I got knocked out at some point by somebody throwing boulders, and that's all I remember of the battle. When I came to, the Flash and the boy were gone, and everybody, every last one that I saw, was dead. I went and I watched him, dead. I didn't know of anything else. All I saw was his cold, lifeless body. I was even doing my medical techniques, even though I knew he was dead. Just sat there enveloping him in my chakra for hours, weeping and weeping. Heaving sobs of sorrow, dad. I was in a void. I barely thought at all. It was as if the world didn't exist anymore. Mindless grief. I don't know, but somehow Jin heard about it and found me there. He had to tear me away, screaming and sobbing and flailing like a child torn from her mother. It was terrible, I had to leave him there, far away in the Grass Country. It was terrible. Terrible. Terrible. . . Terrible. . . Terrible. . ." She kept repeating, falling from a light sob to an utter weep. "TERRIBLE!!" Aki looked at his daughter, who was shaking with unabiding sobs. He had never been much good at comforting his children, but he always gave a valiant effort, especially now that Kaoru was choking on her tears.

"Kaoru, sweetheart, it's going to be alright. We're all here for you. Just let it all out. This must be so difficult for you, but you've always been strong, you can pull through this and be alright.

"But daddy, what am I going to do about Deidara?" "Be strong. That's all you can do. Be strong for Deidara. Be strong and we'll all make it through just fine."

"Thanks daddy." She continued to sit there and sob until she had dried out her supply of tears, a half hour later. She kept reminding herself that she still had Deidara, and she felt a bit better.

A few days later, Deidara was in his room in his home. He was playing with his birds. "I'll name you Aki after my grampa! Fly Aki, fly!" Aki flew around Deidara's head and his room. He even picked up a rock off the floor and ate it. He finally landed on Deidara's window-sill, and stared out the window. "It might be lonely flying alone, so I'll make you a friend." Deidara reached into his bucket of clay, felt around, and huffed "Humph! I used the last of it." He suddenly shifted back to gleeful. "But not to worry! I'll go out and get some more!" He jumped halfway across the room to the door, but as he went to open the door, he heard a knock on the other side.

"Deidara, mommy wants to talk to you, can I come in?" He opened his door and Kaoru walked in. She walked to and sat on his bed. She beckoned him to sit by her.

"Come sit on mommy's lap." He, confused though he was, came to her and settled himself into his lap. Kaoru took a deep breath "Deidara, do you remember when I told you that da. . ." Now, the bird dubbed Aki flew off the window-sill and Kaoru took a breath mid-sentence and quickly changed subject. "I see you've made another bird"

"Yes, I named him Aki, after Grampa."

"Aw, how sweet." She chanced to see his clay bucket. "Oh, you ran out of clay. I'll go and get you some." Deidara, now really confused by his mother beating around the bush, asked as she started to push him off

"Mommy, you said Daddy would be home after you, but when _will_ he be home?" She stopped mid-motion and thought "Oh god, I guess I have to tell him, now." She pulled him back into her lap.

"Well Deidara, he, he, he's_ never_ coming home."

"He's gonna keep fighting forever!?" He cried distraughtly. With as calm a demeanor as she could manage, she sighed a long sigh, and tried to explain.

"No, um, er, oh! Remember that bird that you told me you saved?"

"Yes."

"You know what would have happened if he had gotten squished, right?"

"Yeah, he would have left and gone to heaven."

"Well, Deidara, daddy went to heaven."

"But people don't come back from heaven!"

"Yes. Daddy's never coming home."

"I'm never going to see him again?"

"No. I'm sorry Dei-chan." Beginning to cry, Deidara gasped out

"Mommy, why did daddy go to heaven to be happy when he had us?" Deidara looked up at his mother, blue eyes glistening from the tears. She returned the gaze, anguished even more by her son's despair."Did he not love us?" She cradled him, her cheek against the top of his head and comforted him

"Of course he did, but the fire country didn't think so. It was the Yellow Flash that sent him to heaven."

"Mommy, I miss daddy."

"I know Deidara, me too." As the two sat crying together, the crow chick finally flew, past the window of Deidara's room.


	3. No More Apples

It was dark as twilight outside, though it was no later than one PM. Deidara looked up at the grey sky as he trudged through the mud. It was a vast expanse of mud lakes. He would step in one and sink down to his calves. He would have to tug on his leg at least five times before hearing the "goop" that meant the sludge beast was relinquishing his feet. He could see the tree in the distance.

"I don't know if I like apples anymore!" he said as he was practically jumping to get out of a mud puddle. He winced as the heavy drops hit his head and stung his face. He at last managed to escape the semi-solid trap and flopped onto the ground. He was at the top of the small hill. As he tried to stand, his feet slipped on the wet grass and he tumbled down the hill.

He heard a loud, crashing splash and realized that he was in a pond of rainwater. He started flailing and gasping for breath as he dipped under the surface. Deidara had never learned to swim. He knew he was going to die, as he sunk struggling with all the strength he had left to try and reach the surface again. He surfaced again and cried:

"Mommy! Daddy! Grandpa! Jin! Help me!" As he yelled, he was able to pick his head up a bit, and it hit something. He looked up, just before his head went under water again. It was an overhanging tree branch. He lifted his arms up from the water, and he felt his hands wrap around the branch. With every ounce of strength he could muster, he puled himself up out of the water and onto a patch of dry grass. He was lying before the apple tree.

He looked at the tree, and on the other side stood his father. He wanted to run up and hug his father until he turned purple, but he hadn't the strength to stand, so he groped the air madly, trying to reach his father. He called desperately

"Daddy! Please come get me! I missed you SO much! Please! Please!" His father didn't come to him, but dissipated into the rain.

Defeated, Deidara sobbed, and wailed

"DADDY!!!!!". He lay his face to the ground, and through gagging sobs, choked out

"Da-addy, I missed - you so much,- but why - did you leave - like this? Don't -leave me!"

Kaoru was lying in bed, the bed now with one empty space. She lay there, staring at the ceiling and counting the cracks in the stones. It was two in the morning.

"48, 49, 50. . .Oh, why even bother. All this counting is only making me more tense. . .I spend all my waking hours thinking about him, nothing can put me back to sleep. . ." She said quietly to herself. She followed up in her thoughts.

"When the thunder kept me awake, he would sing softly into my ear. His cooing drowned out everything but him and eased me back to sleep. Wrapped me in his arms like a blanket, hold me, shelter me. So warm. Can still feel his body by mine. So warm. . .so warm."

All of a sudden, a loud shout ripped through her reminiscence.

"Mommy! Daddy! Grandpa! Jin! Help me!"

"Oh my God! Deidara" she thought fearfully as she leapt from bed and ran down the hall to his room. She burst through the door, hoping that nothing tragic had befallen her young son. She released the breath that she had been holding. He was having a nightmare. She looked at him for a moment, relieved, and walked over to him. He was thrashing and gasping in his bed. She laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Deidara, wake up, it's just a nightmare."

"DADDY!!!!!" yelled Deidara.

"Deidara, it's ok, wake up." He sobbed in his sleep and said

"Da-addy, I missed - you so much,- but why - did you leave - like this? Don't -leave me!" She gently shook him and he woke up.

He saw his mother there, jumped into her arms and began to truly sob. She held him, and stroking his hair, whispered gently

"Shhh. Mommy's here. It was just a dream."


End file.
